must have apps on your Hero - Hero, G2 Touch Themes and Apps

must have apps on your Hero - Hero, G2 Touch Themes and Apps

post you list here of apps here
this is to help people like me who have never used android before
DON'T POST LINKS TO WAREZ....I WILL BAN YOU
you have been warned

Ok i`ll go first then! Even though i`m new to Android also....
1 Power Manager, something ive always wanted on a phone, especially when you have phones that can go flat in one day of use. Allows you to set it so that when your battery is getting low it`ll turn of wifi 3g etc.
2 Beyondpod the best RSS feeder.
3 Copilot live 8 the only sat nav for it as yet.
4 Bluex not tried it yet to be honest but you need it for sending files.
5 Netcounter for all of you on capped data packages. monitors how much is used.
6 Shazam obvious really!
7 beebPlayer A quality iplayer style app watch live bbc channels too.
8 Task manager does what you think it does!
There are many other apps that i have some ive not even tried yet. Some worth a mention are: YouTube downloader, XGalaga, Tunewiki, snapPhoto, last.fm, imeem mobile, locale, compass, and barcode scanner.
Feel free to ask me any questions on any i love to help....

Taskiller for killing off processes and apps.
Astro - file explorer app.
Agree with Co-pilot above - wouldn't have bought it without proper sat nav program.
Not essential but useful - Toggle Settings and Tone Picker.
Still looking for a decent movie player which seems a long way off. If coreplayer ports over the Hero will be complete!

Wikitude augmented reality browser - show it to your iPhone pals and watch them weep...
Second BeebPlayer. Really nice iPlayer implimentation.
My Hero came with the pre-latitude Google Maps - needed an upgrade!
A decent compass app!
London Tube Status app - so I know whether to run or walk out of my office in the evening!

Great thread- thanks for the advise.
However I cant find this beebplayer app... help?

Locale - Awesome app. Lets you customise your phone based on location, time, etc.
Last.fm - until spotify is released
OpenSudoku (Best one by quite a margin)
ShopSavvy - Barcode price comparison that works in the UK and gives you local results as well as web ones
Google Voice Search - Works surprisingly well
Doom!!!!
ScummVM - Has issues but you simply can't beat playing Monkey Island on the phone.
beebPlayer - Works OTA on T-Mobile, including live channels

markya23 said:
Wikitude augmented reality browser - show it to your iPhone pals and watch them weep...
Second BeebPlayer. Really nice iPlayer implimentation.
My Hero came with the pre-latitude Google Maps - needed an upgrade!
A decent compass app!
London Tube Status app - so I know whether to run or walk out of my office in the evening!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried the app called compass?

The Jones said:
Great thread- thanks for the advise.
However I cant find this beebplayer app... help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into market on your hero select applications all sort by popularity 7th one down...

johnboywilson said:
Go into market on your hero select applications all sort by popularity 7th one down...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome thanks

what about MSN? i expect my Hero in 3 days, need to prepare also, barcode scanner, is that pre-installed or needs to be downloaded/bought?

Barcode scanner is free from the marketplace, it works really well.

Ive got some - had an android Handset as my main phone for 6 months and I adore it - currently have a Google Ion dev version of magic.
PicSay (and Picsay Pro) - Ive got the pro version - takes pics from camera or gallery and really easily adds speech bubbles, clipart, doodles, colourise, warp, captions etc then allows you to send via mms, mail, to twitter, picassa, facebook.
AK Notepad - very simple, easy to use and very robust. can back up to SD.
Twidroid and Babbler - might be redundant on Hero but great twitter and facebook apps.
Bettercut - allows you to add shortcuts for allsorts of stuff, and to edit any shortcut on your desktop to show your own icons.
UK TVguide - free version has a pop up on start and an add strip at bottom but small and simple to use
Wallpaper Set And Save - lets you use .pngs for crisper images
Jewellust - brilliant bejewelled clone a bit like Jewel Quest...
BookmarkBR - Backup to SD and restore your bookmarks from and to the android browser - great for when you eventually start wiping a lot and loading roms etc...
G-Backup - backs up SMS and MMS and a few other things to folders on gmail server. Auto back up is brilliant again if you wipe and change roms a lot you never lose a message.
Root Explorer - for when hero gets root - lets you go anywhere and options to toggle r/w and r/o in each folder, to copy paste and move stuff - dangerous in the wrong hands obviously...
Beebplayer is great, as is an app called Television, lets you download and run videocasts mostly from US but grand

suisen said:
what about MSN? i expect my Hero in 3 days, need to prepare also, barcode scanner, is that pre-installed or needs to be downloaded/bought?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no real msn...but i have meebo IM and and that works fine for me

liamhere said:
there is no real msn...but i have meebo IM and and that works fine for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am trying out Hi MSN. Seems ok to me. I dont use it much though, I prefer to be logged in on my PC.

The apps i use most are Hi MSN, ScummVM + Monkey Island , and couple other games. Co pilot live and Astro file manager, remote VNC, and Meridian (the best media player)

am i missing something? what do you guys use the barcode scanner for?

Hey, do you know how to make abul arts to show on Hero?
I have tried the folder.jpg image on the same folder but its not working...

liamhere said:
there is no real msn...but i have meebo IM and and that works fine for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Liam,
I've been on Windows mobile for years and have crossed over to android and got a htc hero. I'm very impressed with android and wish I'd crossed over sooner.
One thing I really miss is microsoft voice command on my old wm device.
Do you know if there is a similar app for the android os? There are voice dialers on android market but they dont seem to cut it for me.
Can you help please?
Cheers,
Dom

hi dom
hope these help.
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f10/voice-commands-2511/
http://androidandme.com/2009/04/news/android-news-news/voice-commands-coming-to-cupcake/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=477522

bigviv said:
am i missing something? what do you guys use the barcode scanner for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can scan a item......then check it online for the best price to buy
its very cool.....IMO

Related

A Top 100 Android Freeware List

Hey there,
I have tried to gather the best freeware applications Android has to offer, with descriptions, links back to the developer's websites and QR codes that leads directly to the Market. It's about a 100 apps divided in various categories.
I'm curious what you guys think of the guide? Would your Top 100 list differ a lot from mine? I hope some of you will have use for it!
Here's the URL if you want to check it out:
The Ever-Growing List of Awesome Android Applications
If you can think of any more applications that should be on the list, please let me know
Thanks
-- Lars

As a new Hero-user (on my third week now), I must say one thing: Thank you so much!! =)

Thanks! Glad someone liked it, at least
A bunch of new apps have been added to the collection, and if anyone knows of a great app that's not included - please let me know.

Nice work!
There's a quite a few top lists, and some are better than others, both in content and layout, but I always discover some new apps worth checking out. I very much like that the entire list is visible on one page, with short descriptions.
Would like to point out that Think Android's AppManager (both free and pro versions) has been renamed to AppMonster.

phaelox said:
Nice work!
Would like to point out that Think Android's AppManager (both free and pro versions) has been renamed to AppMonster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure? Because I couldn't find a free version of AppMonster, but AppManager is still available?

Thanks, helped a lot.

MapleDouglas said:
Are you sure? Because I couldn't find a free version of AppMonster, but AppManager is still available?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The creators of the app announced the name change on their website: http://think-android.com
"App Manager" has been renamed to "AppMonster" in market a while ago now (but it depends on what country you're in). If I search for App Manager it only shows apps with similar names, not the app by Think Android.
Androlib now only shows AppMonster in some -not all- non-English markets, namely Chinese, Czech, Italian, Japanese, Russian. And even then in some markets only the Pro and in some only the Free versions. I think Androlib is not that up to date.
http://www.androlib.com/r.aspx?r=appmonster
AppBrain correctly shows the app as "AppMonster": http://www.appbrain.com/search?q=appmonster

Far too much use of the word "awesome", but a nice list, thanks for your efforts.

phaelox said:
"App Manager" has been renamed to "AppMonster" in market a while ago now (but it depends on what country you're in). If I search for App Manager it only shows apps with similar names, not the app by Think Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right. I was tricked by AndroLib.com, initially, since it didn't show any results for AppMonster when I did a search.
@knightnz I try to use the word "awesome" with caution, but I like to alliterate
I've added a new section to the guide with the top free Android live wallpapers
Did I fail to include any good ones?

Apologies for my criticism, but a pure list is not so useful in my opinion; I mean, there's Google for that.
It would be much more useful if this was a ranking, where users can vote their best 10 apps, for example.

Super great lists. Few worthy ones:
1) ColorDict: Universal dictionary reader for Wordnet, data downloaded to local memory (SD Card) for offline view
2) RealCalc: Best replacement calculator
3) Uninstaller: to uninstall apps. Phone's manage application way too slow
4) KeePassDroid: android keepass for storing logins and passwords. If setup with Dropbox or sugarsync, then can sync between phone and computer.
5) Call History: detail call logs better than what 1.5 offer with ability to back up.
6) Moto Phone Portal : access phone by wifi in same network using browser. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=574677
7) xScope GL : Another web browser with much better functionality. Free version limited to number of favs.
8) Skyfire beta : surprisingly fast enough and only option available to view web based videos until Flash 10 lands.
Did I miss K9 or it's not on the list???

Hi again,
I've done some major updates to the Android apps guide, and it now includes all the top widgets and live wallpapers as well. I've also removed some outdated software, and added blue borders to the very best applications so they're easier to spot.
All apps, widgets and live wallpapers are free
Cheers

The "What applications are you running" Thread

Okay I think the time has come for everyone to spill their guts about what apps you have installed on your phone with a brief description of what it is. I guess since this was my idea, I'll go first.
Barcode Scanner-I use this for the square barcodes only
BarTor-Program that tells your computer at home to download torrents. Can use barcodes to find the material and send theinstructions to a pc.
Better Terminal Emulator
Chrome to Phone-Send whatever page you are at on your computer to your phone so you can continue to view the page when you walk away from the computer
EasyTether-Works much better and much easier that PDAnet in my opinion.
Last.FM-Good internet radio. Make your own stations.
Google Maps
MP3 Downloader-search and download mp3's to your phone
Opera Mini-Not beta anymore!(can select as default)
Pandora-another internet radio
Parcels-track packages(ups, usps, etc...)
Ringdroid-crop and edit mp3's on your sd card to use as ringtones.
Root Explorer-can edit r/o files.
Scanner-Police Scanner
Shopsavvy-I tried this for regular barcodes but can't get it to work, help?
SlideIT Keyboard demo-works pretty good.
TuneWiki-displays lyrics to songs you listen to off sd card.
XDA-Stay up to date with the xda forums.

45 views already and no one?

OrbLive - Stream Live Cable Tv from my tvcard on PC and also stream other media stored on PC.
Widget Locker - Add Any Widget or shortcuts to Lockscreen
NBA League Pass - Watch Any NBA Game Live or Archived
Floating Image - Cool way to View Photos
Dual Mount Sd Widget - Easy Way to Mount SD card and still access it on phone
eRay Widget - Lots of features. Memory management, storage, volume controls ect..
Fancy Widget - Nice Weather Flipclock Widget
Launcher Pro Plus - Best launcher to date with tons of features. Now includes Sense like widgets
3 music Widget - My favorate Msic Player
Dro2cap - Nice Screenshot app
Rogue Tools - Set CPU Speed and DPI
Album Art Grabber - Easy Way to Grab Album Art for Your Music

How did you get the launcher pro plus?

Naemion said:
How did you get the launcher pro plus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bought it from here
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
It only has 2 widgets right now. People and Bookmarks but updates are free once you buy it. Hes addinga bunch more widgets in the next couple weeks. He will charge more down the road so best to buy it now

incubus26jc said:
bought it from here
http://www.launcherpro.com/?p=130
It only has 2 widgets right now. People and Bookmarks but updates are free once you buy it. Hes addinga bunch more widgets in the next couple weeks. He will charge more down the road so best to buy it now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What kind of settings and such are different from just the pro version?

Naemion said:
What kind of settings and such are different from just the pro version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no settings are different, outside of the widgets.

incubus26jc said:
no settings are different, outside of the widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh okay, I can't find the dual mount sd widget in the market anymore...

Naemion said:
Barcode Scanner-I use this for the square barcodes only
Shopsavvy-I tried this for regular barcodes but can't get it to work, help?
XDA-Stay up to date with the xda forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ordered one of these, will let you know how it works out, could be very useful with the camera on the HTC Touch.
Macro lens for bar code reading.

NFHimself said:
I just ordered one of these, will let you know how it works out, could be very useful with the camera on the HTC Touch.
Macro lens for bar code reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think I can use one of those, I have the extended battery with the special hump back for the battery.

incubus26jc said:
no settings are different, outside of the widgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Other than the widgets, you said that it had a ton of other features. Which ones were you referring to?

Some that haven't been mentioned that I use.
ASTRO - Must have
aTrackDog - keeps apps up to date. I usually run it once a day.
Gentle Alarm(purchased) - This alarm is one of the best i've used.
MicDroid - to goof around with friends and coworkers
Movies - Alter my netflix queue and check movie times on the go
Shazam

I've been running Android on my Vogue for almost a year now, and my must-have apps include:
Fake-call Me: Simulates an inbound call at preset intervals
Pandora: Love my Internet Radio!
Reverse Lookup: Gives name, address, even a map link for unknown numbers
Google Voice: I used this to create an additional phone number (free) that allows me to make and receive calls from the second number using my mobile phone. Also has text messaging and Visual Voicemail.
(FYI...Most of the features use your data plan)
TV.com: free TV! Showtime, CBS, CNET and lots more
Market no longer has this app, but here is the .apk

aa

Sound Hound - I find this app better than Shazam
Dialer One - hands down best dialer.
Opera Mini - I value fast loading over proper rendering of pages.
TouchPal - hands down the fastest text input for me. It's the chinese version but you can change the option to use English only.
Moxier World - keep track of world weather and time zones
aCurrency - world currencies and conversions
Movies - check out box office movies, upcoming, dvd, trailers, new releases etc...
IMDB - everything else Movies can't do.
Speedtest.net - test bandwidth
Newsy - 2 minute videos of the top news of the day
SportsTap - great for getting my sports fix.
Funny Jokes - keeps me happy.
Google Finance - reminds me of how poor I am.
Factbook - equivalent to the CIA factbook that provides useless facts about countries.
SD Dual Mount - to mount my SD card on the computer.
Widgets
Fancy Widget
Smooth Calendar

A few of the ones I use
3G watchdog - monitors data usage
airplane autoswitch - switch to AP mode at user defined time
Andnav2 - free navigation
Appbrain - market with synch feature
Apps organizer- organize your apps into groups with labels
BlueRSS
Cache cleaner - clean cache
Colornote - notes that can be pinned to desktop
Keeppassdroid - safe app.
Tunee music - mp3 download app.
DGMT - exercise app.
Dolphin browser
dropbox
Fbreader - ebook reader
Fast web installer - install apps from market directly from PC
Gesture search - search for contacts, music, apps using gestures
gmot - control your pc using your Android device
google translate
Gtasks - synchronize your tasks with google calendar
GTwidget data- turn on/off data using widget
Mort player music / MP audio book - mp3/audio book playuer
My backup pro
Oi file manager
Opera mini
Pure calendar widget
Quick settings
Root explorer
Shazaam
Slideit keyboard
Sms popup
Taskkiller
Studydroid
TerminalWapedia

astro- file manager- must have
IMDB- to fulfill my useless movie trivia
bible reader (by olive press) electronic bible KJV
easy excel- self explanatory
quick calendar- helps me track my calan lifedar reminders etc
Rogue tools- overclock to 520
CHOMP- current for text messaging- trying to go through them all and see what i like
linpack- supposed to measure flops per second
opera mini- just a bit better than browser for browsing- i know its a little redundant-
tapXDA for reading new posts i want to replay to later
notepad color- note taking app
google maps
batterylife widget- battery life program

Does anyone know if this app http://hanashi.nu/ uses data or if having just unlimited mobile browser would work... i dont want to get charged for data usage again if thats what the app does. Could someone with a data plan check it out? Thanks

Barogi44 said:
Does anyone know if this app http://hanashi.nu/ uses data or if having just unlimited mobile browser would work... i dont want to get charged for data usage again if thats what the app does. Could someone with a data plan check it out? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't installed the app but i'm sure it uses data. It's stated in the "How does it work" page and the FAQ.

Everything incubus26jc's got on his super froyo rls 14
Adobe Reader-self explanatory
Advanced task killer-see above
AK notepad-notepad that lets me lock my notes with a passcode or pattern
Armored strike light-fun little game to pass the time
Better Keyboard-I go back and forth between keyboards, I like the symbols and such on this one, but it takes up more screen space.
Color Flashlight-not only white, but any color plus strobe patterns and other nice features
Contacts GroupU- lets me group my contacts to text people easy, and for my People Widget
Documents To Go- read Word, Excell, Etc files
ES File Explorer-I like the UI a TON better than ASTRO
gStrings- Guitar Tuner. indispensable
Handcent SMS- I like customization,
iTag-Change artist, title, album etc info for my MP3's
Jorte- Calendar replacement (I don't have data)
Launch-X Pro - nice shortcut widget
MicDroid-Auto tune your voice. not very useful, but cool
Mobile Metronome-keepin' time
PicSay Pro-Edit pics to the fullest, almost as good as on my PC
Ringdroid-cut MP3's and save as ringtone/notification
Ringtone Randomizer-changes RT everytime someone calls
Robotic Guitarist-sounds and shows and chord diagram
Sound Grenade-plays a high pitch noise. nuff said
Tape Machine-record sound
Titanium Backup-backup my apps+settings. also lets me remove factory apps that I don't use, frees up a lot of memory
Uninstaller- I change apps a lot, and try a lot out.

Amazing apps

I have found some really amazing apps for android and thought i should share if anyone else might need or want them.
8pen: The keyboard has been reinvented for mobile devices. Was intended for phones but works great on my tablet. going to be using this as my main keyboard.
freenote: I was looking for a note taking program that can be used for classes. college level physics mostly. so i needed something i can write/type words on as well as put in a far bit of diagrams or equations. This one was the only one i found that did it all at a bang up job to. the controls may be a bit confusing but can have multiple groups of notes per class. save it and back it up (to restore a backup i only know of copying the back up folder into the main folder).
Win-Remote and URemoteDesktop: both of these are great computer control programs. win-remote only works with windows, URemoteDesktop works with both windows and linux. can make win-remote hidden in the taskbar and start with computer to have some fun with someone. (i have played joke on my bro and everyone was laughing was great). URemoteDesktop shows up in the terminal as a java process so its even more hidden. batch file and shell can run without constantly being on screen.
Font Changer (Root): is a nice simple font changer program. there are others i personally found this to work the best and be easiest to use. can be used with any launcher, also changes fonts in web browser, many apps... basically everything unless the app says otherwise.
AccuWeather: i have found this to be the most amazing weather app. has nice clean non clutter widgets that link to the app as well as show information. the app it self is basically a whole weather channel in your hands. even shows radar and 15day forecast. also very nice eye candy. it also tells you more about the day then just sun or rain. there is a lifestyle forecast section that tells you risk of asthma, cold, flu, mosquito risks, migraine risk and much more, even a dog walking forecast. lol
that's what i found. if there's an app that makes you go WOW please share cause i would love to know of more.

FreeNote looks like exactly what I've been looking for for taking notes in my engineering classes. Tried a few last semester and they just didn't work out very well. I tried replicating a few things and looks like it works very well and is easy to switch between modes (typing, hand writing, drawing).

I searched for about an hour tonight and finally found my perfect math handwriting note taking app = handrite!
Sent from my Flashback HC-TAB using XDA Forum App

Hey guys I'm a newbie, and I'm trying to find how you guys DLed these apps (I need freenote or handrite myself for classes) the only links I've found, when i try to download them i get stopped with this message
"There are no Android phones associated with this account. Please sign in with a different account."
How are you downloading on the G tablet and get it to recognize the thing?
if any of you know which direction to point me in even that would be a huge help!

try the amazon appstore and 1mobile or put a rom on it that gives u the market

GoofOff said:
Hey guys I'm a newbie, and I'm trying to find how you guys DLed these apps (I need freenote or handrite myself for classes) the only links I've found, when i try to download them i get stopped with this message
"There are no Android phones associated with this account. Please sign in with a different account."
How are you downloading on the G tablet and get it to recognize the thing?
if any of you know which direction to point me in even that would be a huge help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you're facing a bug. On your gtablet you can download the apps from the market. If you're having trouble, remove your gmail account, reboot, and readd your gmail account to your tablet. This should fix things!

FreeNote FTW!
Wow... I just wish I had FreeNote when I was taking classes. Thanks for posting this OP!

Nice apps. FreeNote is very nice. The kool apps keeps coming and coming...Thanks.

To-do list for Note

I am looking for a to-do list app with following features for my g-note:
1) at the front/back of the to-do list, show what time to do it.
2) checkmark if the task is completed.
3) if the task not done on the planned day, it will show up next day. maybe with different color.
4) large widget size.
5) date should be customizable.
Anyone aware of such an app?

Try "Any.do". quite similar to what you are looking for.

Try "due today". I think it does everything you're looking for and looks nice too.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

Try task n todos lite

Any.DO or Astrid Tasks (or whatever it's called)
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Why use an android only app. With the note, use a better highend Web tool like toodledo.com or rtm. I use toodledo and it is great and I can use it on any device. Apps are great, but one of the best things about the note is having no frustration with using pro Web apps.

steveblue said:
Why use an android only app. With the note, use a better highend Web tool like toodledo.com or rtm. I use toodledo and it is great and I can use it on any device. Apps are great, but one of the best things about the note is having no frustration with using pro Web apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Toodledo is great. In addition I use DueToday on my android which can sync with it.

Toodledoo doesn't have a widget does it?
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

Zamboney said:
Toodledoo doesn't have a widget does it?
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Toodledoo doesn't have widgets as it isnt an Android App. It's a web app and a backend, but there are several apps which sync with Toodledoo.
Right now, Play Store is announcing 2Do: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.guidedways.android2do
But there are lots more:
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=toodledo&c=apps

I think Todo.ly has most if not all these features, and there is a neat little android app that syncs with the web service.
Above a certain number of tasks, or to get certain features, I think it's a subscription service tho.

Again I suggest you try toodledo first on your computer, then set it up as a bookmark on your phone. On the Note it looks great. Then if you like it, you can make it a short cut - and what do you know, something that seems like an app. Only issue is if you can get a connection. But that works on any computer device you want. Read your todo list on anyones computer if you need to. Apps are great but - I never use an app when the web will do. Same for me and google docs. I know then I have the cloud and the internet behind me. My phone dies, my data is safe and accessible anywhere on anything.
Side Note
There is a movement ( i generally support) where some folks call apple and android apps (mainly from large corporations) 'the anti-internet' - because many corporations are filtering the www world ( or own the ads) by making apps to stuff that is right there on the web anyways (a news radio station app for instance) but filters or dumbed down or controlled. They would love to get rid of the more open internet, and they worry that you might keep other windows open or you can ad block or click to other sites - so they want to filter and control you with there nice UI but filtered app. I love apps that do something, but if it is a refilter of the web - well I would rather put up for a slightly worse UI to get the real unfiltered internet. And of course with the Note ( size, pen, ...) it is easier to look at real webpages ( why I got it). google docs and toodledo are two examples of web over app.

DGT GTD
Universal 5★ app with all features your looking for and more.
Nothing really approaches it on the Market.

Very 1st Things to do After Activation?

Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
What are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away? (different keyboards, apps, etc)
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?

Hey I would use smart switch to get your things from iPhone to your new phone but that is after you have it activated
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

XiphoneUzer said:
Hi everyone, just got my N3 last night and I am pretty excited about it.
I am a long time Mac Rumors member and my past phones have been ...... JB 3g, JB 3gs, JB 4, JB 4s
I am very upset with the tiny screens on my iphones and I refuse to wait another year for the 6 to come out.
So now I am a 1st time Android user and what to really check out the Android scene.
My N3 arrived Wednesday evening, and it's STILL not activated, (and its killing me).
The reason being, I wanna know if there is anything I should do BEFORE I call ATT and activate it.
(I do NOT want to close any windows, so is there is anything you folks recommend I do before I activate it)?
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
edit: does Google Play offer any rebates/coupons/freebies for newly purchased devices?
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What do you mean by call ATT and activate it? All you have to do is put your SIM card in and it is ready to go with a few account setups. After that it is up to you except for rooting and modding. Cant be done right now without voiding your warranty.

First thing you do is scratch off the att emblem since they locked the bootloader
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

XiphoneUzer said:
Once activated, what are the first things I should do with the phone, what should I install right away?
Is there a thread around here with tutes instructing how to transfer my contacts etc?
I surely will appreciate all replies, so thanks in advance. I really wanna get the very MOST out of this device.
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Click to collapse
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)

djdelusional said:
Skype: Perfect for if you are travelling over seas at all with your device.
Google Hangouts: A good replacement for the built in SMS app.
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I prefer Hangouts to Skype because Hangouts features free video multi-chat.
But I use Google Voice for SMS because it provides free unlimited texting. Hangouts insists on using the phone's native number rather than your Google Voice number, so you have to pay extra for a text plan or for individual messages.

Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?

XiphoneUzer said:
Doesn't anyone else have any advice for a first time Android user?
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If your new to android I'd stay away from root for a while.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using Tapatalk 4

XiphoneUzer said:
Hello?
Looking for some help here. This keyboard is way different than iphone, is it something you get used to, or should I install something else?
Please tell me what are some of the things I should change/install right away, (there's got to be some "must haves" no?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel like for every-day typical phone use cases, there aren't that many gaps that stand out as needing to be filled by a third party app. You'll probably need a new music player, the defaults are crapola - but I can't be much help here; I keep my music as folders full of MP3 files (like God intended!) and play with Music Folder Player, and shun the dirty S&M ("sync and manage") apps.
There's a big list of stuff that I did when I first got the phone to get it to where I'm happy with it, but all of this was root required stuff. There are apps that come pre-loaded on android devices and can't be removed or disabled without root. Also, customizing stuff that can't be customized without root. I couldn't abide by some of the not-changable-without-root defaults. Getting rid of the "screen turns on so you can unlock it when you hit the home key" behavior is probably the most glaring example for me; my ass* was unlocking it constantly - but coming from iPhone, you probably view that as the Right Thing for home button to do.
I think most people use a custom keyboard. Swiftkey and Swype are the most popular. The phone comes with Swype, but it's an ancient version with limited support for changing the dictionary, you want the newest one.
I use Hangouts for gchat, but not for SMS. I actually prefer default app for SMS..
Settings:
Pull down status bar, long press on wifi, WiFi -> menu -> advanced settings, uncheck auto connect to AT&T hotspots (unless they don't suck where you are. Around here, they often don't have internet behind them, and just break your connectivity for the 30 seconds or so it takes for the phone to connect to them, determine that the wifi is no good, and fall back to 4G. At least this phone does that; Original note would just sit there like a fool trying to use non-functional wifi... I've also yet to find a hotspot that performs better than the 4G does. But I live in a city, so the situation may be different elsewhere).
Pull down status bar, long press on GPS. Uncheck "Use wireless networks" - on newer versions of android, this drains battery while idle; the damned thing wakes the phone periodically to check the networks around it - if the phone is nearly idle, this can halve battery life (!!!)
Pull down status bar, swipe to the left along the options at the top (woah, did you know you could do that?), tap multiwindow to enable multiwindow (this was a headline feature for the note 3, but comes disabled by default). If I long-press back button, that makes the multiwindow tab hide or unhide (once it's enabled), but I don't remember if I had to do something to get this behavior.
General must-have things:
AppOps Starter (to kill permissions from apps that request permissions you don't want to give them)
Battery Monitor Widget (gives you a realtime readout of battery usage)
ES File Explorer
If you want to pretty-ize clock + weather widgets:
DigiClock
Eye in Sky
If you work in IT or have need of these (if you aren't sure what these mean, you don't need them ):
ConnectBot (telnet/ssh client)
AndFTP (ftp/sftp client, supports scp if you pay)
RDP Client (remote desktop and VNC client)
FEAT VPN (OpenVPN client)
Hacker's Keyboard (you'll tear your hair out trying to use swype/swiftkey for terminal sessions or RDP)
If you want to root the phone:
Root it, then immediately install titanium backup and "freeze" AT&T software update, so it won't update your phone (breaking root) while you're not looking
Titanium Backup - freeze all the useless bloatware that AT&T and Samsung included (there's a list of what apps you can freeze here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmzC8GFarItSdGpOZzBfWlR4MC03aDMyZ1BDUFNqU0E - not my work)
Root Explorer
Pen Window Manager for adding apps to the pen window feature
Xposed Framework
Wanam - general huge amount of customization, including selecting apps for multiwindow.
Keyboard Manager (almost a necessity if you use ConnectBot/RDP frequently - keyboards designed for messaging and such are garbage for doing administration of non-phone systems, while hacker's keyboard is garbage for messaging and everyday phone stuff)
Terminal Emulator (gives you a command prompt on phone. Doesn't require root, but there are very few use cases for terminal on android that don't also need root)
*Well, I keep it in my front pocket, so technically it wasn't my /ass/ unlocking the phone....

Database Develop

welcome